Opinion on Video card

[Bent Romnes]

Ok, just trying to stay ahead of things...
I might have to run out and buy a new video card, since I suspect that the old one is failing.

I would think it would be possible to get a decent one for $100 or less.
If y'all would give me your views on what is a good video card for that money, I would greatly appreciate it.
I have a PC with 3.2ghz clock speed, 1 gig RAM and a 120 gig hard drive(if that matters)
Thanks in advance
Bent

[Wiz Feinberg]

Find a card that has the proper connectors for your motherboard sockets, and the output type your montior uses. It should have at least 128 Mb onboard RAM. The maximum resolution should be enough for a wide screen monitor, should you decide to buy one. I believe that resolution is 1680x1050 pixels.

[Mitch Drumm]

Bent:

A decent basic video card can be had for well under $100. I bought a Sapphire 100119L card with 256 mb of RAM about 14 months ago for $55 and have no regrets. I chose it because it is an established brand and operates passively--it has no fan to make noise or go bad.

The whiz-bang cards that are $100 and way on up are generally targeted at PC gaming enthusiasts who are constantly willing to change hardware for even the slightest advantage.

Like Wiz says, be sure to find out what kind of video slot your motherboard has. Most recent boards have a PCI Express slot, but if your board is 2 or 3 years old, it could have a PCI slot. A video card for PCI won't fit in a PCI Express slot.

I just looked at newegg.com. They have over 100 video cards for no more than $50 that have at least 128 mb of RAM. Some of these have fans and some don't.

Major respectable brands are Asus, Gigabyte, Sapphire, and EVGA. Some of the other off-brands can be questionable. Identify your slot requirement, decide if you want a fan or not, decide on a price point, and read the reviews at newegg. Unless you have unusual requirements, 128 mb or 256 mb of RAM is plenty. If you have standard requirements and reasonable cooling, I don't see any need for a fan on the video card.

[Jack Stoner]

I recently upgraded to an XFX8600GT, PCIex16 version and it's working very good. I got a 22" wide screen LCD and it's supported well with this video card. Although I'm not a "gamer" I checked this baby out on a site that does scan the PC for gamaing ability and it says it will run any current game.

There are reports the 8600GTS may be a little better for gaming. The gamers are currently going for the 8800GT but that is $$$ and more than you want to pay.

Check out the video cards at www.newegg.com that is where I bought mine and buy most of my computer parts.

[Bent Romnes]

Thanks, all, for your advice. This was plenty for me to decide.
Wiz, you may close this one.
Bent